The Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 2006 established a Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders (the "Forum"). The Forum is designed to provide its members with a venue for exchanging information and presenting individual views, and allow a structured opportunity for dialogue and discussion while scrutinizing critical and possibly contentious scientific and policy issues. Representatives from government, industry, academia, patient advocacy organizations, and other interested parties serve on the Forum. It will continue to convene three times a year to confer on subject areas of mutual interest and concern and holds two to three public workshops each year. At its meetings, the Forum will continue to identify and discuss emerging scientific and policy issues related to basic neuroscience and nervous system disorders, as well as effective clinical interventions and policy options. The Forum will continue to sponsor workshops (or symposia) as an additional mechanism for informing forum meetings and discussions. The Forum may also commission papers. The Forum has been involved in or is planning several initiatives including: neuroscience biomarkers and biosignatures;grand challenges in neuroscience for the 21st century;patient advocacy organizations and venture philanthropy;and mental health and neurological disorders in sub-Saharan Africa.